Marriott and AccorHotels Mega Merger Activity Created Luxury Powerhouses
Photo Caption: The lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel Beijing. The tremendous amount of consolidation taking place in hospitality today is having an impact on luxury hotels. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Skift Take
Perhaps being bigger isn't always better, at least when it comes to luxury hotels. When you're bigger, the challenges can be, too.
Ask hoteliers what the biggest story of the travel industry has been in the past year, and many are apt to say one word: consolidation.
They're referring, of course, to the wave of mergers and acquisitions that we saw take place in 2016 and play out in 2017. Two were especially notable: AccorHotels' $2.7 billion purchase of the Fairmont, Swissotel, and Raffles brands, among other acquisitions in the luxury alternative accommodations space (Onefinestay, Travel Keys, and Squarebreak), and Marriott's $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which finally closed in September 2016.
With its numerous recent acquisitions, AccorHotels has built a formidable luxury business. Its luxury hotel brands now include Fairmont, Raffles, Swissotel, Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, So/Sofitel, M Gallery by Sofitel, Pullman, and Grand Mercure. AccorHotels also has partnerships with Banyan Tree and Orient Express, and it also owns luxury alternative accommodations platform Onefinestay, wh
